Postecoglou jumps in defence of 'tired' Spurs squad in passionate rant

Ange Postecoglou launched a passionate rant about his Tottenham squad after Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa in the FA Cup. The Australia international urged people to consider fatigue as a major factor in his players' performances amid Spurs' ongoing injury crisis and demanding fixture schedule.
The Spurs manager has been deprived of the services of 11 players due to injuries - Romero (muscle), Udogie (hamstring), Vicario (ankle), Odobert (hamstring), Werner (hamstring), Johnson (muscle), Solanke (knee), Maddison (calf), Dragusin (knee), Van de Ven (lack of fitness) and Richarlison (calf) - with many of his stars expected to face a long spell on the sidelines.
"I really don't know how else to explain it. This team is just trying to play under the most extreme conditions," said Postecoglou. "It's been two-and-a-half months of asking 18-year-olds, 17-year-olds and senior players with no rest to play Thursday and Sunday going on for over two months. If you think that that is not at all a factor in how this team is performing, then there's nothing else I can explain to you."
Asked about the lack of aggressiveness in Spurs' recent displays, the former Celtic boss said: "They're tired. They can't press like that all the time. If we hadn't played on Thursday night (Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi-final) and I had rotated that, do you think we would have been pressing a bit more aggressively today? Fair chance. You can't expect them to be flying after playing Liverpool on Thursday night. It doesn't happen. They're human beings."
Postecoglou is under pressure to avoid the sack after losing five of his last eight games in all competitions. The FA Cup and Carabao Cup - lost out to Liverpool in the semi-finals - exits dealt a huge blow to Postecoglou's boast earlier this season that he always wins a trophy in his second campaign. Languishing 14th in the Premier League, Tottenham only have the Europa League to play for after qualifying for the last 16 of the tournament.